


The Kid he heard about

by WitchyBitchParker



Series: let's not call it destiny [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Bisexual Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Harley is a little shit, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Harley Keener, Sort Of, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, everyone is sad, loki is a powerful fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 19:42:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18745780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyBitchParker/pseuds/WitchyBitchParker
Summary: They met during his funeral.What follows afterwards can only be described as an emotional rollercoaster nobody wanted to be on.- the snap tore a hole into their lives, so they come up with a plan, trying to fix everything-





	1. The funeral

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks,  
> felt like writing a fanfiction because I am stressed out. I am unsure where exactly I want to take this as it still is a work in progress. I will add and or alter the tags as needed.  
> Please leave your opinions and comments as well as suggestions below  
> love J. Parker xx

They met during Tony’s funeral 

It was not the most joyful meeting to say the least. Harley felt out of place, as if he did not belong with the people who had fought by his mentors’ side and were with him when he had passed. They all were heroes and his family- he was just a boy who was nobody special, he was just Harley. So, he stood a bit to the side outside of the smaller collective of people who were as grief struck as him.  
Pepper had been the one to invite him to the gathering, had been the one who had reached out to him to share the news. She had told him that tony had met precautions in case of his death and had explicitly stated that he would wanted Harley at his funeral, pepper had mentioned that she was unaware of who he was but was happy to meet him and provide for his stay and was happy to have heard from him. He could tell just through the e-mail how upset she was, but also how genuine she was. She was a grieving wife and mother and couldn’t bare to think he would be left alone in his loss though she did not even know him. 

Meeting pepper was heart-breaking she was pale, her eyes were dull and filled with sadness but she smiled when she met him. 

He felt out of place, pepper was more than overly kind to him but she had her own loss to deal with and did not need a kid she did not know clinging to her, so he stepped away from her during the funeral during which all his heroes were present. Steve rogers, Rhodey, Wanda Maximoff, James Barnes, even Thor Odinson and so many more he did not know. But they did not know him and they probably had a deeper connection to tony than he had so he stepped away, to the side and silently watched the ceremony not really knowing what to do with himself. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to stop them from nervously fidgeting whilst tears of pain and grief were rolling down his cheeks. But he didn’t care, the numb feeling of loss had slowly taken over his entire body over the last few days. 

He, for the first time, since 2012 felt lost and he absolutely hated it, the fact that five years had passed in what had felt like 5 hours- every single bit of it.  
He felt alone-  
Until he met the boy with the Bambi eyes. 

People had started to move again, holding each other in tight embraces and wiping away tears and nobody was alone Pepper was holding her daughter whilst being comforted by a woman with long brown hair and a man he could identify as Happy Hogan. “Hi” a weak voice in front of him said tearing him out of his trance, a pale boy with messy brown hair, red rendered brown eyes with dark circles underneath them. He looked sick and on the verge of tears, a boy not older than he was stretching out his shaking hand as if it wasn’t to greet him but hoping he would hold him before he fell apart. “Hey-“ Harley replied shyly not expecting anyone to even notice him “You- you looked like you could use someone to stand with you” tears started to run down the boys’ cheeks again. He nodded in agreement trying to hold back. Brown eyes stood next to him, silently, occasionally wiping away his tears and seeing the boy next to him, who was a good four inches shorter than him crying and just letting the grief wash over him broke something in Harley.  
He did not know the boy, nor did he know how Bambi eyes had known Tony but he could see that he had seen some shit and had been through enough for a lifetime. A heart-breaking whimper escaped his lips before he could cover his mouth with his shaky hand and his body started shaking in sobs.  
Harley never realised that he actually was sobbing on the shorter boys shoulder and clutching him tightly in a crushing embrace until he started calming down a few minutes later. He wasn’t ashamed once he started letting go, firstly because the boy left it uncommented and acted like nothing had happened and secondly because he looked like he had done the same thing. He genuinely felt better. 

The sun was not particularly warm as it shone down, the air was fresh but grief and loss made it feel awfully heavy and everyone could feel it. Not a single bird was singing as if they knew it was not the day for songs. It was quite if you put aside quite sobs and faint whispers, as if the whole world had fallen to honour and pay their last respect towards the fallen hero. 

The mysterious boy by his side had left tear stains on his shirt but he did not mind to be honest, tears were still partially hanging caught up in his lashes. The other boy shot him a look as he wiped over his eyes with the sleeve of his suit jacket in order to dry his eyes. It wasn’t a look of wonder or anger or sadness, none of that, it was a questioning look, seemingly asking if he was ok. Checking on him, caring. Tears were still streaming down his awfully pale face and yet he was more concerned with Harleys health and wellbeing than his own. Harley nodded shortly one of his blond streaks of hair failing in his eyes which he moved behind his ear rapidly. 

He swallowed hard, he always heard that ‘having a good cry’ would make one feel better but he never felt that statement to be true until now, being able to just let it out was as if someone had lifted a weight of his chest. 

A mild gust of wind blew across the land when as the crowd slowly started to loosen up, people were walking holding each other and speaking in hushed voices, when the Bambi eyed boy mumbled “My name is Peter by the way” and his breath hitched and his voice is shaking when he replies “I'm Harley, He told me about you” 

Peter Parker and Harley Keener met at Tony’s funeral


	2. Moving on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving on from loss is difficult, nobody could claim that it wasn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasup?  
> hope you all are doing alright.  
> I finally have an idea where I would like to take this fic so hopefully this will work out as I hope for it to.  
> Feedback, critique and ideas are always appreciated just as kudos and comments.  
> Hope you like it  
> Parker xx

Moving on from loss is difficult 

Nobody would be doubting or questioning that, if you lose someone who is truly important to you than getting over their death, their erasure from existence, is most certainly not easy. It is a long ever ongoing process and it is painful.  
Accepting his father leaving was not difficult it was a fact that was in need of acceptance and not in need of sadness, he never had the very best relationship with his father either way so just continuing his life was not easy but not awful either.  
Tony had perhaps been like a father to him, perhaps not. He had more so been his mentor and his person of trust, a person he could rely on. A constant in his life if you so will. 

But what he had or hadn’t been to him didn’t matter, well- not anymore anyway. 

Meeting Peter Parker in a sense was a great relief for Harley, he had heard a lot about the boy and Tony had meant to introduce them at one point or another when he wasn’t attempting to persuade Harley to come to New York and go to a better school. A stem school that could “match his intellect” was how Tony used to phrase it, but Harley always insisted that his sister needed him back in Tennessee and that he couldn’t leave her for school, that he would manage to get by.  
In retrospective he often questioned that decision, maybe he could have somehow managed to accomplish something which might have allowed him to help in the war. 

But now he was Just ‘the other kid’ that nobody knew nor actually cared about in all fairness. He was just the child who showed up to the funeral with nothing to offer. He was just Harley Keener who had proven to be useless in the fight.  
He did not want to be just the civilian, he did not want to be useless, because it felt as if- if he just kept standing by people were going to keep dying, and he will always ask himself as to whether there would have been a chance to save the people around him.  
Harley had to do something because he would never know if he could help if he never tried. 

His thoughts were drifting off again. 

Meeting Peter under any other circumstances would have potentially been a delight they would have probably acted like giddy children and done some stupid shit in one of the labs but they unfortunately did not meet under different circumstances.  
And they did not actually have a conversation until a few days later when peter came to stay in the tower for a few days, to help Pepper out with the business, to help doctor Banner in the labs, to assist Clint Barton, to work with both Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, to confer with James and to work with Sam Willson, Captain Rogers and Sargent Barnes.  
He appeared to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, running around in a constant rush always carrying a portable coffee cup, made of scrapped silver metal with a black lid, always keeping his head down low, hair falling into his eyes. 

Harleys heart was aching and it broke him just a bit to see everyone working their ass off when still being grief struck, but he understood why they did not have the time to take a break and have some time for themselves. The world as a whole had undergone a massive shift, some people had lived through five years whilst others had experienced a mere five hours, the market was breaking, politics were going crazy, and Pepper being the Business woman she was picked up exactly where she left off before everything had Stark industries back up and running with a mere wink of her hand and completely drowned herself in her work whilst still being loving and caring with Morgan who was, whilst Pepper was handling phone calls, being looked after by a woman named May and Happy Hogan.  
Seeing the people who were most affected by the entire situation were the ones who did not get to hit the pause button and it pained him, he was standing on the side lines not knowing what to do with himself so he observed. 

If he was being honest, he did not actually know what exactly Peter was doing all day and by the looks of it all night as well, he was pretty much everywhere and needed by everyone, doing anything at all- sleeping of course not being one of them.  
Nobody gave Harley much attention, ‘why would they’ he figured, they did not know him. 

He was sitting in one of Tony’s labs, which Pepper had permitted him, it smelled old like a lab just would if it hadn’t been actively used in years, a fait scent of oil, fire and chemicals clung to the equipment like a coat of memorable work. Everything was modern, primarily kept white and transparent, as the table and some of the glass walls most likely also served as screens to record data and just work with.  
Being aware of the A.I. Friday the thought of asking her a certain question did not stop crossing his mind. Not doing anything at all brought him closer to the edge of insanity by the second and he just felt like he HAD to contribute something, just do something anything. So he gathered his energy and courage and asked, feeling a bit stupid, -  
“Friday?”  
“Yes, mister Keener how can I help you?”  
“So uhm, I was just wondering are there any projects Mister Stark left unfinished before everything happened or is there anything, he left addressed to me?”  
He almost expected Friday not to answer the questions so he was even more surprised when the lab seemed to come back to life.  
Screens flickered up, lights started glowing, ventilators stared moving with an ever so noticeable soft sound.  
“He indeed did save a file addressed to you Mister Keener; would you like me to pull up the video for you?”  
Though meaning to breathe out his breath hitched noticeably and a new wave of grief and pain overcame him. Harley did not want or feel the need to cry but his chest felt tight and tense,  
“Yes, Please Friday, if that was ok”  
“Of course, Mr Keener”  
Anthony Edward Stark’s face flashed up tinted in a slightly blue light, on one of the transparent screens.  
The man grabbed his unshared attention as he tried to keep composure, He was captivated by the short recording so he did not notice Peter freezing at the sound of his fathers? Voice, as he was walking past at the very end of the message.  
Though Harley had convinced himself that he was above everything and that he was in control of his emotions was proven wrong gloriously when Peter’s voice started to ooze into his brain slowly  
“Harley breathe with me. Harley, please focus on my voice. Take a breath for four seconds, hold for seven, breathe out for eight. Can you do that for me?”  
Bambi eyes looked on the verge of collapse when his vision cleared again, pale, horrendous hair and dark circles under his dull eyes.  
“Four in”  
He started again, calmly and waited for Harley to do as he said  
“Hold for seven”  
His world stopped spinning  
“Breathe out for eight” 

For Peter Parker and Harley Keener moving on from loss was difficult, but at least they were not alone.


	3. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yello,  
> hope you are alright, I am drunk as f-  
> Hope you like this chapter, got the next few planned out so hopefully it won't take too long to write and upload  
> Love,  
> Parker xx

Meeting someone when the world seems to have fallen apart is sometimes just what you need. 

Bambi eyes aka Peter and Harley sat slouched against a wall, legs stretched out and peter leaning against Harleys shoulder they had both calmed down after some time and both had sat in silence because not speaking was ok for both of them until it wasn’t. It felt as if they allowed their emotions to suffocate them, neither of them truly appreciated the feeling so Peter broke the silence  
“Are you ok?”  
his voice was tired and worn out as if he hardly had the energy to even speak  
“This is the second panic attack you got me out of, the only thing bruised is my ego”.  
The blonde boy could feel Peters mouth curl into a soft smile against his side.  
“What did he say?”  
Peter asked not being too concerned to come off as nosy  
“He said that he was sorry he never got a chance to introduce us and that he never had a chance to help me out of the shithole of a home”  
The smaller boy nodded  
“Sounds like Tony not even gonna lie”  
Harley shrugged in response “I don’t know, he never was like that with me, more of like your cool science uncle not much of a father in that sense”  
“Oh”  
“I mean, at least we met I guess.” Harley pointed out tiredly  
“I suppose. Listen, Harley I genuinely would like to conversate with you sooner rather than later but I need get back to work, I’m sure Doctor Banner is wondering where I have been”  
He sat up and shot Harley a tired and apologetic gaze filled with regret and exhaustion  
“I get it Peter no need to apologize”  
Looking back he felt bad for not being honest with Peter from the beginning, Tony had had a lot more to say than just what he had told Peter, he was just not sure how to tell the younger boy who seemed to be so broken already, he was in no condition to take in that sort of information so he kept it from him.  
In the evening of the same day Pepper approached him, her strawberry blonde hair was loosely pinned up by what looked like a pencil, her all black suit ensemble but in particular the button up blouse made her skin appear white as paper creating a strong contrast to the dark circles underneath her eyes, giving her the appearance of a person who hadn’t slept in a few days- which in all honesty, she probably hadn’t.  
“Harley, I would like to make you an offer”  
His eyes met hers in anticipation as she tried to straighten her blazer a bit  
“Due to most recent events I would like to offer you a business collaboration if you so wish, I heard about your mother and would like to propose that for time being you transfer to new York, you could visit Midtown a very good Stem school in the area and in return you could intern for stark industries, we don’t usually approach people we would like to employ and don’t usually work with anyone before they graduate college but I reviewed your file and happened to see some of the things you worked on in the past. R&D would be lucky to have you, the offer to move in to the tower stands unconditionally and in depended to the other offer but –“  
“Thank you, Ms Potts, I truly appreciate your offer. I would like to accept it, both offers. You have been nothing but incredibly kind to me and I would like to thank you for your faith in me.”

That night he couldn’t sleep. This was insane. All of this. His mother was in an insane asylum, his sister was older than him and in college and he was still just Harley. Harley the Stark industries intern and soon to be Midtown student, the school Tony had insisted he should go to.  
Everything Tony had wanted for him started to happen and he wasn’t there to see it.  
Life was funny sometimes. 

Eyes wide open he blankly stared at the dark ceiling, faint moonlight was falling through the window and stars were glistening in the night sky, it was like the floor he found himself on, dead silent and dark, and if he hadn’t known better, he would say that he was alone but he knew for a fact that Peter most likely slept here as well- well providing that he was sleeping and not still running around working his ass off in a lab or something.  
His actual top guess was that Peter was still working, not running around in a superhero suit. In fact everything would have been his guess before he would have even had any idea about Peter running around in a superhero suit.  
But he did not even get around to questioning as to whether peter was sleeping or working because Bambi climbed through the window just as Harley started making coffee. A teenager climbing through a window would not be any sort of shock, specially not for Harley since he considered himself the master of sneaking out of the house in the middle of night, but they were stationed on the 76th floor.  
Peter stared at him looking mortified and scared out of his mind, the fact that his body was still covered in the iron spider suit was not in his favour.  
Harley just about managed to not scream at the top of his lungs when Peter just suddenly was there, Peter froze.  
“Uhm, Peter?” the blonde asked slowly “You, you are sticking to the window and uhm-“  
Bambi eyes quickly jumped and landed on the floor without a sound and commenced to carefully close the window “Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked sounding ever so slightly out of breath “Same as you I am guessing, I couldn’t so-“  
“Oh yea, fair enough uhm”  
“You are-“  
“Yes I am”  
“But”  
“I know”  
“Well this was unexpected”  
“Sorry” 

“And this is how Tony found you?”  
Harley quizzed after they sat down on the couch to speak  
“Yea pretty much, tracked me down around the time of the sokovia accords- seems like forever ago 

~a few hours later~ 

“Wait seriously you have got to be kidding me” laughed Peter “I always thought he was kidding about that”  
“No I swear it really happened” snorted Harley  
It was the first time since he had met Peter that he heard him laughing and in all seriousness the sound made him happy, it was a good laugh, light and honest.  
“I have to get back to work now but-“  
“You haven’t slept though”  
“Well Keener neither have you”  
“Touché”  
“Oh, how much longer will you be staying for anyway?”  
Asked Peter as he was making a coffee likely containing more actual coffee powder than water.  
“Since my living situation in Tennessee is a bit altered- uh, Pepper offered me to stay here and go to school, and offered me an internship so that’s that”  
Peters eyes flickered with a flash of happiness  
“That- I- I’m glad?”  
He phrased it like a question not exactly knowing If Harley was happy about it but he smiled “I would hope so since you will see me a lot more from now on”  
Peter smiled as a screwed the black lid on the silver coffee cup “And if anyone asks I wasn’t on patrol last night, got it?”  
Harley snorted “ ’Course”  
As The elevator door closed Peter smiled at Harley, it seemed honest and genuine.  
They smiled, but well knew the whole situation and the circumstances under which they met were not good in any way shape or form, and they knew that the pain was not over, not even close. Everything had just begun and the worst was probably yet to arrive.  
But -

When the world of Peter Parker and Harley Keener fell apart meeting each other may have just been what they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos and comments, critique and ideas are always appreciated x


	4. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I am drunk. I apologize for any inconsitencies or mistakes, feel free to point anything out.  
> hope you are better than me,  
> love ya,  
> Parker x

They say there are five stages of grief 

Peter was working his ass off, he hadn’t slept much ever since ‘that day’ nightmares tore him out of his sleep, Less since Natashas memorial, and not at all since the funeral, leaving him restless and scared to close his eyes. So he didn’t sleep period, there was no reason he should for now, humans could survive on around 11 days without sleep and he wasn’t exactly human either way so he should be fine- as long as he kept himself busy.  
Did everything possible to not think about anything but work.  
Talking to Harley and getting to know the genius kid better was a relief and awfully good for him, just talking to him about everything helped him not think about everything but as soon as the sun started to hit the floor through he realised he had to work, Pepper was doing everything humanly possible to pretend that she was ok while bringing a multi- billion company back within mere hours. She may be human in the terms of biology but her business abilities were out of this world.  
May was being the most supportive she could be thought Peter refused to speak about his experiences with her, not able to live with the thought of upsetting her by telling her about what had happened and he couldn’t bear the thought of going back to his old life, having to pretend he was fine and not traumatised what so ever.  
-Can I please stay in the tower?-  
He texted his aunt who too was in the building but he couldn’t bring up the courage to tell her to her face that he couldn’t go back to their flat. He expected her to do a lot, ask him why, say no, say she could consider but none of that. Within a minute her reply flashed up on her screen  
-Peter, I love you so much, and if you want to stay here then that’s ok, you don’t need to explain yourself if you don’t want to. I am here to support you and I am here if you need me. I shall speak to Pepper about the arrangement-  
He forcefully held back tears until his eyes stopped stinging sharply  
-Thank you <3-  
He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was too scared of waking up screaming having her find him with a panic attack, that he was too scared of waking her after an exhausting day when he was sobbing in his sleep.  
Nightmares were the worst because they put everything he was trying to not think about at the immediate forefront of his mind, leaving him no escape.  
“Friday?”  
He addressed the IA  
“Yes Peter?”  
“Are you ok?”  
“Peter, I appreciate your concern but I am an Artificial Intelligence I am not sure if I am even capable of grief, I thank you for asking it is really sweet of you”  
“No worries Fri, all good. Hey uhm, does anyone here need me right now?”  
“Wanda and Clint seem to be distressed, Steve is having a panic attack but James is with him, Stephen seems upset with something”  
“Is he alone?”  
“Yes”  
“Could you perhaps tell me where in the tower he is?”  
“Of course Peter” 

“Doctor?”  
Peter asked carefully as he pushed the door to the Docs temporary room open  
“Peter? What are you doing here?”  
Stephen sounded tired and upset, distressed and just about done with life if he was being honest.  
“Friday said that you seemed distressed, I came to check on you I guess?”  
His usually styled up almost black hair was standing in every direction, his eyes looked sunken in and his posture was completely non existent whilst he was, lost in thoughts, creating red glowing magical circles as Peter tended to call them.  
“Yes- yes, I am fine. I- I should go back to the sanctum”  
Words spoken in such manner hit peter right in the heart, he knew that Stephen was very far from alright and that his mind was all over the place but he did not challenge the doctor, he was a person of reason and never acted without caution.  
“Very well,-“ started Peter with a soft voice  
“But remember, just because you are the master of magic and all you don’t have to pretend to be ok, what I am trying to say is that, please take care of yourself”  
The words were met with an appreciative nod from Strange. 

And he was back by himself with no work and nothing to distract himself, so a threw together a bag and did what anyone would (absolutely not) do. He went to school.  
Of course he did not tell anyone he was leaving, they all had their own things to work on at the moment, wanting the kid to take some time off.  
For whatever reason he just assumed that his old timetable would still apply, having his fingers crossed he simply walked out of stark tower. 

Because for him nothing could be worse than sitting around having nothing to occupy his mind with.  
Calling him a walking disaster would have been an understatement, his eyes were dull, rendered red from all the crying still, dark circles on pale skin, contrasting strongly with a black oversized MIT crewneck shirt which hit him a third a way down his thigh which were covered with black jeans . the entire ‘outfit’ was topped by a black jeans jacket with light grey jersey sleeves and a hood with the same colour.  
Everything that had happened was now almost one month ago, the funeral a week and a bit, people were going back to their jobs, things were starting to come back together slowly but steadily.  
Nervously clutching his cup he entered Midtown, before he could think about this being a mistake he was met with a sharp voice “You should be in class”  
He lowered his head replying “Yes, sorry I am on my way” 

Chemistry was the class he was supposed to have, so he dragged himself to room Cm8 and knocked  
“Come in”  
Replied a familiar voice, the voice of Mr Hunt  
“Sorry that I am late”  
The class fell dead silent.  
He carefully let his gaze wander through the crowd meeting many familiar faces MJ and Ned looked worried, Cindy looked confused and Flash- Flash looked taken aback  
“Didn’t think I would see you again Parker, not so soon after your ‘Boss’ passed anyway”  
A smirk hushed upon his lips as he put “Boss” in quotation marks with his fingers  
Peter, Mr Hunt, Ned and MJ all sent Flash a death glare for his comment  
“Mister Parker I did not expect to see you back so soon; I was informed that you were not going to ne coming to school for some time”  
Peter figured Pepper must have reached out to his school to let them know he was in no condition to be there, bless her heart.  
“Well Mister Hunt, I was not aware that such messages were sent to the school and see no reason why I shouldn’t be attending class”  
His teacher looked at him with worry in his eyes  
“very well Peter, if you would like to take a seat” 

They said that there were five stages of grief, the first one being denial- Peter denied that he found himself in stage one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, kudos, comments, critique and suggestions are always welcome x


	5. Agression, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am tired  
> hope you enjoy  
> parker x

According to experts Stage two of grief is Aggression

“Everywhere I go I see his face” he whispered when Happy Hogan waited in front of his school looking tired  
“Why did you go to school”  
“I don’t want to talk about it” he mumbled as he got into the car  
“That’s ok Kid”

The ride went over silently for the most part. When they got back nobody dared to comment on Peters decision to pretend to have a normal life, it was his choice to do what he did and they accepted that. So, they left him be as he went into his lab to tinker on whatever really. 

He formulated new web fluid and worked a bit on Dr Banners new thesis because he was bored when Harley walked in  
“You went to school?”  
The comment did not come from a place of judgement or hate, it was a question of concern but also acknowledgement. Peter did not look up from his work and just nodded in response, considering it to be sufficient. Being aware that he was being rude he simply could not get himself to reply in any other way, it just was too difficult to look at him or anyone by those means.  
“Care you elaborate” Harley quizzed  
“No”  
Harley felt like he was speaking to a brick wall, a brick wall with feelings, yes but a wall made of solid stone non the less. Prior to this moment he never thought he would ever be unkind to Peter, but the kid was obviously not doing ok, and in the end being mean and being honest and upfront were different things.  
“You aren’t coping”  
“I am”  
“You can’t bullshit me Peter, we have been living on the same floor for two weeks”  
“Fuck off Keener”  
“Will not Parker”  
Peter finally looked up from his work fury and anger sparkling in his brown eyes, everything else about him looked almost dead but not his eyes.  
“LEAVE ME ALONE”  
He suddenly belted out loudly his voice cracking  
“NO”  
Harley shouted back  
“I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE, KNOWING VERY FUCKING WELL THAT YOU ARE NOT OK, I FUCKING SEE YOU, YOU ARE NEITHER COPING NOR OK”  
“AND WHY WOULD YOU CARE?”  
Harley did not have a reply for that that did not contain the words ‘just because’ so it got stuck in his throat staring at Peter blankly  
“Thought so, if you could please leave, I have work to do”  
Defeat flooded Harleys body, it was pointless and his presence was making Peter uncomfortable so he sighed and left his head hanging low. He would have to rethink his plan to get though to Peter because the kid needed help that was out of question. But everyone was dealing with their work and emotion, so when Peter insisted that he did not want their help they were being kind to not only him but also themselves to leave him be until he was or would be ready to talk to them. 

Harley knew why Peter had acted the way he did, basic Défense mechanisms and he understood that he wasn't ready to talk, did not want to talk. Obviously the incident remained unspoken of but somehow brought them a bit closer, Peter was fully aware that Harley wouldn't touch him with velvet gloves and he was happy about it.  
He and Harley grew closer whilst becoming distant, ironically enough. 

~o~

Admittedly Harley never actually was an aggressive person.  
A month or two after the funeral things began having an actual routine, he was convinced that he was ok, he started going to midtown together with Peter and immediately was taken up into the friendship group which he was grateful for.  
He managed to establish a sleeping schedule which allowed him to feel alright despite things being ‘odd’, he worked for the Research and Development department for Stark industries, was on first name basis with the Avengers in an almost family like environment and everyone seemed to be starting to move on somehow.  
Even Peter of all people seemed to move forward, slowly and silent, keeping to himself and only himself as soon as they left school every day. But Harley saw that Peter was really trying with everything, they did not talk much but he trusted Peter to come to speak to him or anyone if he had to.  
He knew damn well that Peter had started working on a new project but refused to tell anyone what it was that he was working on, knowing himself and Peter tinkering on something was what they needed, and if Peter didn’t care to share than that was fine, because he didn’t either- for good reasons he had to admit in his favour. 

So once they came home from school there was no Harley and Peter bonding time  
they went into their designated personal labs and each of them worked on their individual project.  
And that was fine.  
Until it wasn’t. 

With Peter becoming more and more distant once again he became growingly concerned but other than that he would still see himself as evenly tempered, nobody but Bambi ever got through his 200 layers of sarcasm but that was just who he presented himself as.  
So, one night he was woken by the loud scream from Peters room, of course he jumped into action to help the kid who was shaking and sobbing in his sleep, he wished the fact that Peter was laying in his bed for once would bring him at ease, but it didn’t. He was well aware of Peter not sleeping as much as he should and he started understanding why that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the first part of this chapter, kudos, comments, critique and ideas are always welcome  
> thanks for reading x


	6. Agression, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second part to Aggression, originally it was one part for peter and one for Harley but Harleys was set in between peters chapter so i did this instead  
> Hope you like it,  
> Parker x

He was well aware of Peter not sleeping as much as he should and he started understanding why that was.  
“Bambi wake up”  
He cooed softly as he carefully placed a hand on the younger boys shoulder who immediately shot up out of his sleep, gaze darting through the room until his eyes met Harleys. Tears started streaming down his face and it broke the blondes heart, his bottom lip was quivering as he tried to hold back a sob. Carefully Harley sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling the shaking boy into his arms.  
“It’s so loud”  
Peter whimpered almost still in trance as he was clinging to Harley as if he needed him to survive  
“It’s ok Bambi, I got you.”  
He softly reassured him. 

Though it had taken some time for him to understand why Peter distanced himself, he finally got it. 

More often than not he woke up in Peters bed with the smaller boy curled up in his arms, and without a doubt he became more and more protective over him.  
So, in effect he thought that he was mostly fine, he finally understood Peter who actually seemed to get just a little bit better- actually this time. And overall being closer to Peter made both of them feel better, so yes- he was evenly tempered for the most part and managing-  
but when Flash made one too many comments about Peter- he snapped.  
His fist had hit Flash’s face and then stomach before he could second guess his actions.  
He finally sapped, seeing Peter being bullied relentlessly without a fucking break despite how obviously sick he was, despite everything. He was just so fucking sick of it, and somebody had to do something

Harley Keener never was an aggressive person but when he gave Flash a blackeye during Physics class he had no regrets. 

Harley being protective over Peter started becoming a regular occurrence and Peter as well as Harley were fine with it, quite appreciative of it even. Peter was Physically stronger but Harley had a stronger emotional resilience so they complimented each other nicely.  
So though not speaking much at all or spending an awful amount of time together they were not easily separated in the bigger sense of it all.  
Slowly but gradually the other residents of the tower started to notice the growing connection between the two young men, Pepper did not think much of it being too preoccupied but she was happy in a way. At least she knew they were not alone. Cap and Bucky together with Scott, Bruce and Sam were mapping out a plan to return the infinity stones which had been delayed time and time again now.  
The fact that both Steve and Bucky had started to feel responsible for the two kids and did their best to be something close to what Tony had so effortlessly been in their life, did not exactly help the plan.  
Of course, Peter and Harley noticed and appreciated what they were doing but also knew that it was a way of theirs to cope for themselves, they- being every single person who was a permanent resident, started to become a huge extended family.  
But Peter wasn’t getting better any better except for the initial boost he knew he got though Harley.  
And his coping mechanisms were gradually becoming worse. 

Punches were raining down onto the black sandbag, Peters hands were flying and hitting the smooth surface repeatedly. His hands were stinging with sharp pain with every hit just a bit more but he ignored it, enjoyed it almost. At least it was physical. At least he felt something.  
Harley words had hit him right where it hurts, because he knew the older kid was right but he was not ready to just- let go.  
So, his uncovered fists smashed into the leather of the heavy bag and the joints it was connected with ached with a high pitched sound.  
Everything around him disappeared, his ears were ringing, his eyes stung, his breath was flat, his feet moved minimally as he continued throwing punches.  
Everything was moving slowly.  
All that was there was the sound of his knuckles hitting the bag.  
All that was there was the stinging pain slowly traveling though his body.  
All that was there was the overwhelming wave of emotion crashing over his body.  
All that was there was Peter Benjamin Parker.  
All that was there was him. 

He never even realised that the bag had broken and that he was yelling until strong arms pulled him back, away from the sand that was spilling out of the hole he had forced into the punching bag.  
“LET ME GO. LET ME GO. LEAVE ME ALONE”  
He yelled and tried to lash out hit the person restricting his movement, his vision was white and black, vague shapes and nothing.  
“LET ME GO”  
Throwing all of his body weight forward against the arms that were dragging him backwards, but the person did not give in. They did not let him go restricting his movement, not allowing him to lash out.  
It did not dawn on him that something was off, the only person perhaps able to restrict him would be Dr Banner but it definitely was not him.  
“Calm down Peter. Remember what you told me. Four in. Hold for seven. Breathe out for eight.”  
Words only slowly faded into his awareness.  
“Four in”  
Fighting his instincts, he forced himself to take a deep breath.  
“Hold for seven”  
He shut his eyes and held his breath.  
“Eight out”  
Air was slowly flowing out of his mouth as his body stopped shaking violently. 

And finally, after what felt like an eternity, he managed to clear his vision. His breath calmed down and the force he had used to hold up his body started to fade and he was on the brink of collapsing in himself.  
“Bambi?”  
“Harley?”  
He asked in utter confusion as his eyes darted around the room attempting to find the source of the voice  
“How?” he begun as he weakly turned around, expecting Harley to stand behind him. He wanted to ask how he managed to hold him down, how he found him or what he was doing in the gym in the first place but any and all world were stuck in his throat when his eyes fell on Harley.  
“Wha-“  
Red and black metal was covering his arms and upper body, a circular energy source was emitting blue/white light from the middle of his chest. 

For Peter Parker stage two of grief was perhaps the most difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, kudos, comments, critique and ideas are always appreciated  
> Thanks for reading x


	7. Bambi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama. That's it. That's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellu, hope you are doing well and enjoying the fic so far.  
> Lots of love  
> Parker x

Sometimes the best you can do is speak. 

“Harley- what?”  
His brain was not capable to forming anything coherent what so ever as he stared at Harley Keener whose upper body was covered in something looking an awful lot like the Iron Man armour, only in the colours of Peters new Spiderman suit, red and black.  
For a split second he thought he might be hallucinating but he had felt the cool metal against his skin he knew he wasn’t imagining things, but fuck he wished this was a dream.  
“Peter-“  
Harley started carefully  
“No. No. NO! I am walking the fuck away”  
His voice was weak though the exclamations carried immense weight, and Harley did not blame him one bit for not waning to be confronted with the information he had been meaning to share with Peter. But thanks to the shock both of them seemed to have forgotten that Peter had a panic attack and that he was exhausted to the upper limit, and at a certain point, even a super human could not take anymore.  
As he walked away, he collapsed. 

Harley was too scared for his- for- he stopped his thoughts, a question for another day. Harley was scared for Babis health, actually.  
He was willing to suck it up for Peter, was willing to pretend to not see because Peter really did his best to hide everything- Harley unfortunately was observant, he was willing to look away. But this was too far.  
No matter how much Bambi and his wishes mattered to Harley but this was too far. 

And because he was well aware that Doctor Banner was ‘not that kind of Doctor’ and he did not want to bother Pepper or Happy, well actually he did not want to sell Peters state out to anyone at all but at least he knew to whom he could turn.  
Names had spun through his names as soon as Peters body had hit the floor, perhaps Wanda?- but she was struggling herself with the loss of her maternal figure, sister, teacher and she was still combating the loss of her lover.  
Clint was mourning Nat together with Wanda leaving him out of the equation.  
Cap and his moral campus were not exactly made for this situation and he too was slightly unstable still after losing his best friends, partners in crime and believing his husband to be dead for years once again.  
And though the husband in question was not exactly a doctor, he would most likely be able to work out what to do, as he had a fairly logical mind and knew to act quickly. 

So he quickly deactivated his suit which retracted into a necklace pendant in the shape of a miniature version of the arc reactor before he picked up the unconscious boy carefully, handling him like precious cargo, trying to ignore the fact that he weighed virtually nothing at all.  
“Friday, please could you tell me where Bucky is?”  
“Of course, he is on the 87th floor”  
Careful to not shake Bambi too much he started hurrying towards the elevator. The fact that the picture they were presenting was odd did not cross his mind until the elevator doors opened right in Bucky’s face.  
Friday had informed the long- haired soldier that Harley was looking for him so he started walking towards the elevator in order to eliminate the need for Harley to look for him.  
As the doors slid open the greeting he wanted to give was stuck in his throat. Peter looked as if he was peacefully sleeping in Harleys arms, his brown hair a ravished mess, his button down opened, hanging to either side of his in sweat glistening torso. Harley presented a similar picture, messed ul hair, body glistening with sweat, the only difference was that he did not wear a shirt.  
Bucky knew that he might be old but he was a married man, and the picture seemed rather conclusive. 

Harley was greeted by Bucky looking at him with a risen eyebrow, asking why exactly he was there. It was in that moment that he realised that it looked like something that it was not.  
“I- it- Bucky- Help”  
Whilst he was trying to decide say- ‘I’m sorry to bother you, it is not what it looks like, Bucky do you have a sec and Help’ being an option he stumbled over random words from each possible opening line. It was then that it dawned on Bucky that the situation might be a bit more serious than it first appeared  
“What happened kid- if I want to know” he added just in case it was a necessary addition.  
“Ba- Peter, he- he passed out after- after training after he had a panic attack. He- he just collapsed” He felt a bit bad for not disclosing that he scared Peter but the information he disclosed to Bucky should be sufficient either way.  
“Ok.” The older man said as he ran his hand across his face in stress “This is bad. Fuck.” He stopped for a second until he exclaimed “Friday please could you tell me where Stephen Strange is?”  
“He is in the building after a meeting with Pepper and currently in the medical wing conversating with Allie”  
“Could you please tell him to meet me in his office, its an emergency” 

“Follow me Kid, Stephen knows what he is doing”  
Harley nodded as he tried to hold back tears and followed Bucky quickly, still holding the passed out Peter in his arms. They were rushing through quiet corridors and luckily, did not run into anyone on their way to Stephens office which he had insisted on having for the purpose of severe medical care for the team, Pepper had protested, insisting that he needn’t do this and that it was not his job. But he managed to convince her that it was what he wanted so she in the end agreed. 

“What was so urgent Bucky, not that I am complaining speaking to you is-“ were the words flying in their face as soon as they pushed the office door open and Stephen only stopped himself from speaking once he looked up seeing something he did not expect. His blue eyes were first finding those of Bucky, obviously thinking the same thing the super soldier had instantly thought but realised as the soldier had, that this situation was a serious emergency.  
“Harley please lay him on the sofa and explain to me exactly what happened” 

“He- he just” Harley now was a sobbing mess after explaining to both Doctor Strange and Bucky what had been going on in the past months. The not sleeping, the nightmares even when Harley was there with him, the isolation- All of it. “This is my fault, this is all my fault because I couldn’t protect him. I should have protected him. Fuck this is all on me.”  
Bucky rested a comforting hand on the teens shoulder which was shaking, as was his entire body.  
“This isn’t your fault, it isn’t anyone’s fault. We all tried to get though to him, believe me we tried but he couldn’t. The fact that you and he even manage to develop some sort of relationship at all is astonishing but- this’ he gestured towards Peter ‘it happens. Some people take a long time to process pain, he has experienced severe trauma. Unfortunately we can’t do much until he is ready to open up on his own terms, but right now the best we can do is try to be there for him. At the moment he is out because his body is forcing him to shut down and sleep, get the rest he needs. He will therefore likely be asleep until at least tomorrow I am guessing but he will be ok, he is just asleep”  
He pulled Bucky in a hug and was sobbing on his shoulder; he knew damn well that Stephen was right but he couldn’t help but feel like he was partially responsible. 

“Stephen?”  
A voice asked from the entrance of the room and Harley instantaneously let go of Bucky to track the source of the voice. 

A feeling of ice cold shock ran through his veins and arteries and capillaries as he stared into deep, bright green eyes. 

Speaking to both Bucky and Stephen was good, it helped at least a little bit, and was the best he could have done. But sometimes feelings no matter how strong can be erased by staring into eyes that resembled Emeralds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, Kudos, comments, critique and suggestions are always welcome.  
> Thank you for reading x


	8. emerald tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time to finally set up the plot don't you think?   
> I should be studying for my finals but whatever

Shock ran through his body, the person with emerald eyes seemed to feel no different.

“oh”   
Escaped emeralds lips as his pale skin seemed to come closer and closer to resembling a sheet of paper. Bucky was confused and Stephen was ‘mildly concerned’   
Harley was a mildly dumbstruck mess as green sparks began to nervously dance along the long fingers of 

“Loki”   
Was the first thing Harley managed to say out loud, and the green shine around the gods hands intensified   
“Lokes listen, its ok. Calm down, control it”   
Anxious eyes met those of Stephen as the flicker began to die down slowly, until it was fully gone.   
“Harley, James, may I please introduce you to my fiancé” 

They sat around a simple light brown desk, which was topped by a, at the time, closed laptop, and an empty coffee/ tea cup. Rather simplistic and boring and yet very Stephen. The wizard doctor (as he had been dubbed in secret by some of the inhabitants) had folded his hands on the desk as he sat on a spinning leather chair with comfortable looking arm rests. Loki had taken a stance in the corner where he leaned against the white wall, letting, now on purpose, green sparks and smoke dance over his fingers, which could easily be identified as a nervous habit. His searching gaze wandered between Stephen and the unconscious child resting on the sofa close to him. Harley and Buck had sat down on the two provided chairs facing Stephen, Harley to the left, bringing him closer to Peter and simultaneously Loki, whilst Bucky sat to his right, immediately in front of Stephen.   
Bright white light was shining from the ceiling as they awkwardly sat and stood there waiting for someone to make a start.   
“So, what?”   
Bucky decided to make a start, he hadn’t exactly been around for the Loki and New York drama and therefore was less so apprehensive than Harley, who had been old enough to retrieve extensive memory from the occurrences, and most importantly what they had done to Tony.   
“Loki, very powerful God of Mischief and my fiancé”   
“but-“   
“Don’t go there Harley, please. He was as much of a victim as everyone else, he was controlled by Thanos and each of his actions might have been acted out in his character but were not once his.”   
Harley shut his mouth again trying to process the new information, Loki, in his mind at least, had been this inhumane beast, this wrong doer, this evil and overpowered God. But upon further inspection it dawned on him that Stephen seemed to be right.   
Loki didn’t look evil, tired- yes, pale- that too, exhausted- indeed, nervous- very much so, but he didn’t look evil.   
With all the willpower he had Harley started to destroy the picture he had kept in his mid of the God of mischief all this time. 

“You’re a God?”   
Bucky quizzed curiously   
“Indeed”   
Loki confirmed, sounding fairly British if Harley was being honest.   
“So what can you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”   
A sly smirk snuck up on Loki’s lips, making him look a lot less like a terrified man sitting on death row.   
“Well, super strength, durability, shapeshifting, illusions, mental manipulation, telekinesis, energy field manipulation, persuasiveness….”   
He shrugged, as if he was unsure as to whether he should continue but Bucky seemed baffled already, and if he was being honest with himself- so was Harley.  
“And you met when exactly?”   
Stephen shrugged in reply  
“He came to me after I became the master of mystic arts for assistance in controlling his powers.’- his voice got all soft as he added the next part and his lips curled into a small smile ‘the rest is history I suppose”   
Loki smiled at those words before his face turned neutral, almost concerned and affectionate again   
“What happened to young Peter?”  
Genuine worry was mirrored in his eyes and body language as he eyes the sleeping boy up and down, perhaps attempting to find a fatal injury or something similar.   
“He passed out”   
Harley stated almost matter of fact-ly despite feeling like he could start sobbing again any second now. Almost instinctively he reached out to Peters hand to take it into his own, Bambis hands were much smaller than his and cold. Not even questioning how Loki knew Peter  
“Can you- is he- nightmares- and- “   
He hadn’t realised that he was crying again until his voice started cracking as he attempted to speak   
“I can make sure he doesn’t have nightmares, yes”   
Loki said smoothly  
“I care for the young spider deeply it would be a true crime not to help him”   
He muttered almost to himself as a swirling stream of green, mist like, energy? Magic? Streamed into peters head right at his temples.   
Pain sprung across Loki’s face as he interfered with Peters mind.   
Only after the magic started to fade from Loki’s hands he begun speaking   
“You shan’t worry about your boyfriends nightmares, for now it is taken care of.”   
A furious blush erupted on Harleys cheeks as he began to protest weakly  
“He isn’t-“   
But Loki shushed him with a hand gesture   
“He will be ok, no nightmares, but – he Is in so much pain”   
It was impossible not to hear Loki’s heart break as he said it, he had felt Peters emotions as he made sure he would not have nightmares. It broke something in the young God. 

Absurd was a good word to describe the situation, leaving neither Harley nor Bucky questioning any of the things that had happened. 

Hours later Peter was laying in his very own bed, snuggled up in a mountain of blankets and sleeping peacefully the picture was wonderful on the one side, seeing Bambi calm and relaxed and whole was something that warmed Harleys heart, but he had to recognize the fact that this was not what Peter truly felt, this was an exception and it pained him. 

Bambi’s desk was a reflection of his personality, messy, full, colourful but yet organized and with a clear layout. His homework was in a messy pile to the right, but apparently organized for the different due dates, folders and books were stacked underneath the desk, in the centre of the desk were scribbles that looked like they were for the Spiderman suit and just lots of science. Photos dressed the walls above the desk, pictures of fancy tech, Ned, MJ, May, pictures of the avengers together and pictures of him and Tony. Harley was surprised when his eye was caught by picture of him. The photograph showed him laughing brightly as he was leaning against the desk in his lab. 

But all of that was besides the point as he opened the hologram diagrams and plans of his project in order to tweak a few things, since he had the time until Peter would wake up, potentially even until tomorrow so he might as well use the time he spent looking over the sleeping hero.   
Sitting in the desk chair he enhanced details, changed plans, created models and worked through all the different possibilities he would have when continuing his project. The tech he was trying to apply took him, in his opinion, far too long to figure out, and It had frustrated him almost to the point of giving up, but he couldn’t.   
Tony had believed in him. 

So he had continued building the suit, had planned the design, looked into Tony’s archives and models in order to see if his mentor had had any ideas close to what he was trying to achieve but there wasn’t much he could utilize making the journey more difficult for him. But he got there eventually.   
Hours, he spent hours on finalizing the plan, the project, the trials, the design.   
This moment, finishing and completing what he had been working on for months.   
It should be a joyful moment for him, but all he could think about was the fact that this, he, was what was the little bit too much, he was what tipped it over. 

He never thought that he would be that person, who would bottle all their emotions up until they couldn’t take any more. But he was. Tears rolled down his cheeks and dropped on his shirt and sweatpants as he blankly stared into the hologram which gave off a dim blue light and showcased what he had been working on. 

Shock ran through his veins when he heard a sleepy voice “Harley?” and he quickly tried to dry his tears and silence his sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos, comments, critique and suggestions are always welcome   
> thanks for reading x


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, sorry yall for taking almost two weeks for this small chapter, I have been awfully sick and then been catching up on work hence I am stressed the fuck out and am overall glad to have this chapter done now.  
> Hope you are doing alright  
> thanks for reading  
> Love, Parker xx

Harley never realised how much time had passed since he had started working, so the voice obviously made him freeze in shock.

An uncomfortable cold rushed through his veins, spreading through his entire body, for the very depth of his core through to is finger tips, paralyzing him for a split second.

“What happened?”

he asked in confusion as he sat up, his slightly longer hair looking like the definition of bedhead. Brown hair was half stuck to his head and half standing off in every possible direction making peter appear to have stuck his fingers in a fuse, his pale skin, was though still pale, less see through and ghostly and resembled the appearance of someone healthy. Dark purple and violet circles underneath his eyes, were though still there, more of a shadow rather than something ingrained into his skin like a nasty bruise.

“You uh- you passed out”

“Ah makes sense”

He mumbled softly as he rubbed over his now sparkling eyes, looking at him in awakened curiosity. Carefully he pushed himself back so he could rest against the headboard behind his bed and his eyes wandered over Harleys body cautiously. Clearly noticing that Harley had been crying and internally struggling with the question as to whether he should ask the blond boy about it or whether the blond boy would speak to him if he felt the need to. Coming to an apparent internal compromise he softly said “You know I’m here if you need someone” Harley nodded in appreciation of the offer and smiled.

“But you have some explaining to do mate”

A sigh escaped the blonds chipped lips as he ran his long fingers through his short and ruffled hair.

“Don’t want you passing out again”

Which Peter answered with a shrug

“I am sitting, all good”

That in itself was not really any sort of real reassurance or anything that meant something, but Peter made his point clear. He was not going to let it go. And that was ok for Harley, he had already accepted that He would have to tell Peter, and he was ready for whatever Bambi had in stock for him, the yelling or what not- he deserved it. He accepted it, so he decided to speak before second guessing himself again.

“I have been working on this for virtually the entire time since the funeral, I- I felt guilty, guilty for Tony’s death and guilty because he always told me he wanted me to take over his mantel but I always denied, he always pushed me to be better, design my own suits but I refused, pretending I could have a normal life but I never did. So now that he is gone, I felt guilty because if I had accepted maybe he would still be alive today, so I looked into his old designs and developed my own. My own iron man suit with my own ideas and mods and my personality. I know doing it now is disrespectful and wrong and useless but I- I had to see that I could do it, that I would have it, just – just in case I would ever need it.”

Peter just looked. Big brown eyes wide in something that could be either shock or curiosity. Looked at him. Looked, not even disappointed or upset. Peter looked relieved.

“Harles, listen you needn’t apologize to me. I get it. Everyone would get it. And I really want you to show me, I am excited to see what you’re working on. Not going to lie, I am glad you told me and that I wasn’t hallucinating, because – there is something you should know”

_-_

_“Maybe I don’t want you going you useless gay” Bucky yelled furiously “I am not risking losing you once a fucking gain do you understand?” he turned around quickly to face Steve again who looked puzzled and upset “I can’t” Bucky’s voice suddenly had become quite and was full of pain. Steve took his hand carefully and looked at the long- haired man “then I won’t go, but someone has to”_

_-_

_“What are you working on Bruce?” Pepper asked as she walked into the scientists Lab “since Steve isn’t leaving for some time, I figured I might as well work on the stones for a bit” a pain filled smile spread across her face “I get it Bruce. You can say what you actually are working on. I understand”_

_-_

_“there should have been a way, I should have found a way, what if there was a way, what if it was future 14000607 I failed him” Loki softly laid his hand on Stephens cheek as his thumb carefully wiped away the singular tear which rolled down the wizards face. “It’s ok, you didn’t and couldn’t have known. You acted to the best of your ability.” Stephen dropped his gaze as he whispered “I should have continued trying”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, comments, kudos and critique are much appreciated  
> parker x


	10. The plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, I hope you are all doing amazing, school has been quite busy recently but I am hoping to get back to uploading regularly sooner rather than later.  
> Hope you like the new chapter  
> love Parker xx

There Is something that you should know

 

The tension between the two boys could have been cut by a knife as Peter sighed nervously and chewed on his lip as he tried to collect his thoughts

“I am going back in time”

Harley spluttered in shock

“Bitch I hope the fuck you do; you’ll be a dead son of a bitch I tell you that- not fucking happening Parker”

“Hear me out Harley, please”

In annoyed compliance Haley sat back on the desk hair from which he had jumped up in rage throwing his hands up in shock.

“I got it all sorted out, the stones need to be brought back to each of their individual time lines anyway, someone has to bring them back, so we sure as hell have enough pym particles to do so- I mean I made some more either way but. Someone has to go back in time, what difference would it make if I made a quick stop at the battle, none. I figured out how to save Tony for fuck sake, Stephen has been saying for weeks that there could have been another future during which Tony did not have to die, what if this is it, what if I can save him”

“and what if you can’t? Peter! It would kill you, and you would have to go through all the pain and all the loss again because you exposed yourself to the exact situation again. It would break you, and what if you succeed, it won’t have an impact on our world and our reality anyway. It makes no difference to everyone!”

“But I WON’T FAIL!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW THAT PETER”

“I DON’T CARE”

“So what do you plan on doing, just show up to the final battle and what- Stop him from doing the snap, sapping yourself- what is your fucking plan. I sure hope you have one during which you wouldn’t die” Harley said dryly

“I do have a plan, thank you for asking, because as I was saying- I can save him. You remember Peter Quill? When he was here two weeks ago, he told me a story he mentioned when we were on Titan, about a dance off-“

“Like in footloose?”

“Exactly like footloose, he told me how they beat Ronan- basically an evil alien guy, and they held an infinity stone together, channelling its power through their bodies in order to defeat him. It is possible to wield an infinity stone and not die, It just takes a lot of power, Thanos did it and he had the gauntlet, so if I can get to Tony and we channel the power of the stones together he could survive, and I know it will not impact our world but it would be nice to know that there is a reality parallel to ours where we met under different circumstances. It would be nice to know that there is a version of me who doesn’t feel like needing to live up to the legacy of Tony fucking Stark, think about Morgan and Pepper, and about Steve and Stephen and Clint. I know I can’t bring back Natasha and I hate that knowledge but I want to be able to tell her that we won. There is unfinished business in the past and we can save Tony! I owe it to Morgan to try”

In his elaboration Peter consciously left out the small detail about the guardians being more than two people but his point still remained, Dr Banner managed to do it so-

“So, what would the plan be, just go back to the battle, with all the infinity stones and then just, hold Tony’s hand in the hopes it doesn’t kill both of you? And even if it didn’t. You’re going to travel around in time putting infinity stones back in places god knows where, for all we know you could have to travel to fucking Asgard”

“Then so be it, I have been to space, no big deal. It wouldn’t kill me, I just know. and if it does at least I tried. And Yea, why not travel around in time and put infinity stones back in place, someone has to do it”

Harley was on the verge of losing it.

During their conversation they had somehow migrated from Peters bedroom to the kitchen [(This but a little less bougy)](https://www.google.com/search?q=fancy+kitchen+with+high+table&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CYP9yPjeEONvIjj-hirIUwTDMrQWepC2a0TIBkoOUkPHUCW4DmId_1R-UF4DhB2b0XYRmeelOMOLq2iLORwq_1NAyZkCoSCf6GKshTBMMyEcqeLWpXkHrcKhIJtBZ6kLZrRMgRx1F8w2PJGu0qEgkGSg5SQ8dQJREZUDh07YT5qyoSCbgOYh39H5QXEYTJLpprJKXNKhIJgOEHZvRdhGYR_1JLvWZ0sgHwqEgl56U4w4uraIhE7l6s8gk48pioSCc5HCr80DJmQEWUg3nM-F_1Lx&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjcpJX1z4_jAhWLHRQKHbQHC9MQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1600&bih=776&dpr=1.2#imgrc=g_3I-N4Q4293eM:&spf=1561843392249) where Harley had taken a seat in one of the high chairs with black seats and silver legs, tapping his finger on the metal counter whilst peter was pouring a glass of apple juice and placing the bottle back into the fridge only to take a seat across from Harley.

Peter looked awake and well rested for the first time since Harley had met him and It made him realise the full scope of the beauty of the boy with the bambi eyes. A fire was burning in them, as he stubbornly readjusted his brown hair which kept falling into his eyes. The sparkle of pure determination to go through with his plan remained.

 

“Peter you passed out due to shock and exhaustion not even 24 hours ago and you seriously think you could survive going back in time, let alone be exposed to the power of all 6 infinity stones it would tear you to shreds in an instant, you are physically exhausted and in no state what so ever to go on a secret mission by yourself. Not happening, not on my watch and only over my dead body. I am not allowing it. The condition you’re in right now- there is no way in hell I am letting you do this”

Peter rose an eyebrow as he sipped on his apple juice which didn’t have the most reinforcing impact when he replied

“Well I wasn’t asking for permission Harley, I am going to do it, if you want it or not, I don’t care.”

In a much quieter voice he added

“I have to try, and I can take care of myself”

“Bambi you very much can’t take care of yourself.”

Harley said softly

“Especially when you are traveling through space and time- not happening”

Peter shot him a frustrated look having said everything he wanted to say, when Harley added

“Not happening when you are alone. Which is why I am coming with you”

 

In that moment Peter Parker decided that Harley Keener was going to be the death of him, only figuratively though.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, comments, kudos, critique and ideas are always appreciated  
> thank you for reading x


	11. Agitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh my dears, I am so sorry for having taken so long to upload things have been v busy and I haven't really had the chance to sit back and write a little. I hope you like the chapter  
> I hope you are well  
> enjoy  
> love Parker x

Peter and Harley were agitated 

School the next morning was something neither Harley nor Peter were truly able to focus on, both their minds being slightly preoccupied and it showed. Very much so, to the point where both Peter and Harley forgot they were not supposed to excel during PE or any other class by those means whilst not even paying attention. Conversations taking place during the day between them and any other human being were short and abrupt not being able to follow an ongoing chat for more than maybe three minutes much to the displeasure of their friends.  
The two sleep deprived teens had trouble walking straight whilst trying to come up with a more elaborate plan than the one peter had had, not speaking unless it was a suggestion which would always have some sort of flaw.  
“Mr Keener, are you even paying attention?” Harley did not look up upon hearing the sharp tone of his science teacher Mr Harrington “Yes sir” he kept his eyes stuck on his sheet of scrap paper on which he had doodled, scribbled notes, crossed them out, added annotations and considered suit upgrades suited towards fucking time travel as they wouldn’t get away with stealing the suits and then having enough time to work on them so they had to upgrade their own suits, a realisation which had come roughly around second period ever since when he had allowed himself access to the files regarding the time suits the avengers had used when they went back in time. Of course it would never go unnoticed if two of the suits just randomly disappeared with no further explanation, they would never have enough time to even start modifying them so integrating the technology used in them into their own suits was an additional step they did not realise they would have to take-  
“Are you sure Mr Keener” Mr Harrington challenged annoyed with the Tennessee Boy “Yes Mr Harrington, the solution to the question you have proposed is that k is equal to gmx over grad by equating Ee to GEP through Ek and then simple substitution and simplification”  
As if not bothered Harley continued chewing on his pencil still not having bothered to look up “Very well Mr Keener, this is correct” to which Harley shrugged in reply “I know” after which he returned his full attention to his sheet of paper not seeing his physics teacher make a perfect impression of the surprised Pikachu Face. 

Peter meanwhile had Chemistry and handled it the same as Harley, head stuck in his notes scribbling ideas, annotating how they would work, finding a flaw which would destroy the plan and scrapping it, carrying parts of the idea over to a free space on the paper and beginning further annotations, whilst at the same time checking his watch every two seconds in order to find out when the lesson would be over so he could start working on plans of his suit, as he required Holographic projections to do anything resembling impactful work on his suit. 

“We approached this the totally wrong way” Harley sighed in frustration, throwing a scrunched up piece of paper into the bin which was on the verge of overflowing with pieces of paper in the exact same state as the most recent one.  
“What do you mean?” Peter replied whilst staring at a projection of his web shooters  
“We have been working towards something which of we don’t even know the details?” Peter turned around to face the worked- up Tennessee boy  
“Elaborate on that, what exactly are you getting at?”  
“We have been working on suits, when what we need is a plan of the ‘time machine’ or whatever you want to call it, we need the blueprints of the suits so we can figure out how to work and use them, we need the surveillance footage of the entire time before the actual dooms day in order to find out when the fuck we have to go in order to put the stones back where they belong. We need to find out when we have to be and where. What we need to equip ourselves with by finding out what they needed”  
Peter ran his hand over his face and then proceeded to nod  
“You are right. But this will probably take time, a lot of time”  
“Good thing we are in this together”  
A tired smile formed on Peters lips  
“I was thinking if we can access the files today I can review the security footage and you take a look a the blueprints, you are more familiar with that type of applied engineering. Afterwards we see where we are at”  
Peter nodded, his eyes sparkling slightly, as if it was the thing they needed. As if there was enough hope for this to work. 

The boys retrieved to their shared lab which laid in comfortable organized, scientific chaos  
“Friday?”  
“Yes Mr Parker how can I be of assistance?”  
“Could you please, across the screens in the lab pull up different things that should be in Tony’s archives and the surveillance archives?”  
“Of course Mr Parker, which files would you like to access?”  
“I would please like access to Mr Stark’s data on time travel, I would please like access to the plans on the Quantum realm machine, I would please like access to the plan of the suit used by the avengers traveling through the quantum realm, I would please like access to all the surveillance footage we have between Tony’s discovery of time travel and the day after the battle please”  
“Some of these files are secured files, I will need vocal confirmation to access the data”  
“Peter Benjamin Parker, security level Alpha ten gold, security code P09T01TS3000.”  
“Access Granted, Thank you Mr Parker”  
“Thank you Friday”  
He grinned at Harley with just a bit of pride as in folders dozens of files started to be loaded onto the screens in the lab  
Harley grinned at Bambi  
But for just a second they hesitated, they were agitated. This was going to happen. 

“Friday?”  
“Yes, what can I do for you?”  
“What are Harley and Peter up to?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this chapter, comments, kudos, critique and suggestions are always welcome  
> Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading.  
> P. x


	12. slight hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya, hope you are well and have/had a good day  
> New chapter already- shocking. Compensating for not writing for a month haha  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter  
> love, Parker x

Two weeks later 

“So” Peter dropped a folder on their lab table which Harley was leaning on, how forearms crossed on the glass surface “What have you got?” asked the brown eyed boy  
“Complications” was the first thing Harley could reply, just to emphasize by how much they underestimated the shit they had gotten themselves into. Peter sighed as he mirrored Harleys posture looking at him with tired but still unbelievably determined eyes.  
“The time stone- an easy target, New York, 2012 the sanctum sanctorum with the ancient one. Just give it back to her, done. The mind stone, also found in new York, also in 2012, same day- from what I gathered from the security footage and the conversations Steve stole it from his past self so should therefore be placed next to an unconscious version of him somewhere in the stark tower, which also should not be an issue. The space stone, this is where the shit starts - Camp Lehigh, New Jersey, 1970. One of shields military facilities, Tony and Steve stole the tesseract out of a safe in an underground lab whilst Steve stole pym particles out of Hanks lab.”  
Peter sighed n frustration at the information, as New York would be just fine but that was sort of maybe a bit bad.  
“Don’t worry Bambi It gets worse. The reality stone, Asgard, 2013- IN Jane foster, who apparently is Thor’s ex- girlfriend. The aether was extracted out of her and therefore needs to be injected back into her. The soul stone is on a planet named Vormir in the year 2014. The stone required a sacrifice sort of following the idea “A soul for a soul” which is why Natasha never returned. We will have to hand it back to the guard of the stone.” For a brief moment Peter looked like he wanted to cry or yell as nobody had ever told him the circumstances of Nat’s death but he managed to compose himself quickly, making it seem as if he hadn’t been hit by a wave of emotion.  
“the last stone is the power stone, Nebula and Rhodey went to retrieve it, in the year 2014- on a planet called Morag”  
Peter did not say a single thing.  
He started pacing around the lab arms swinging by his side, a gesture of frustration, and minutes passed before he said anything.  
“We need a space ship”  
“Where the fuck are we going to get a spaceship? – Peter we are not going to-“  
“What else can we do Harley, we can’t exactly build a spaceship unnoticed or capable enough to get us to asgard and morag and vormir”  
“Can’t we use the pym particles to travel through space though?”  
“Sure we can, but what if we need to use them go back in time more often than we anticipate to, what if we are minutes to late with putting a stone back- we can’t risk using resources up and then failing to place a stone back. We need it as backup”  
“that is true and all but don’t you think its risky to get someone involved?”  
“yes, of course. But we need someone to operate the time machine anyway”  
“hold up, not necessarily how should Steve and Tony have gotten to New Jersey if not by using the suit?”  
“True but wouldn’t someone have activated the machine initially, and would then get us back?”  
Harley nodded seeing Peter’s point and accepting that they needed someone.  
“But Peter- who are you thinking of because I have two people in mind and either option is awful”  
Peter sighed in frustration as he sat down rather than lean against the table  
“What else can we do, we finally have what we need it will most certainly not end with a fucking spaceship.”  
“I agree with you, honestly but who do you intend to call? Peter Quill- we can literally not pay him, Loki? As nice as he seems he is no scientist he doesn’t know shit about how to build spaceships. Who will help us and won’t tell? Because we sure as hell can’t just steal one of the Quin-jets from shield”  
Peter smirked confidently  
“I had someone else in mind entirely, say Harley do you know Shuri?”  
Harley thought back to the one time he had met the young princess, she was funny and seemed highly intelligent, just beaming with ideas and concepts.  
“Yea I met her once” Harley replied  
“She is a wicked good engineer” Peter grinned 

Harley managed a smile; it was a start.  
“So Petey pie tell me about the suits”  
He could see Peters eyes light up, and he started energetically  
“So, you have seen Mr Lang’s suit, right?”  
Harley nodded  
“Well it is like they just adjusted it and secured it, used different material, it’s all about the regulator of the suit, and the helmet perhaps”  
“So, can we build those?” Harley quizzed immediately  
“Wayyy ahead of you Tennessee. I compared the mark 51 armour with yours and theirs, I made the according adjustments, gave you more armour and weapons, small things here and there, adjustments to the helmet. I have designed a new suit for myself and am currently in the process of building it, it’s very similar to the suit that tony made for me but obviously adjusted, weapons, armour, adjusted helmet.”  
A weight fell of Harleys shoulders as he heard those words, there was actual hope. This would work.  
“I need your help with a few engineering things though”  
Harley got excited, he loved engineering ever sine he was a child  
“I need you to build the regulators, that is ever so slightly above what I can do, I am more into Bio-chem anyway. And I need you to talk Mr Lang into giving you a shrinking disk, we both know I suck at lying”  
He laughed wholeheartedly and Peter tried his best at shooting him a death glare which just made him look like a puppy  
“No worry darling, can do. Both”  
Peter grinned and so did Harley.  
For the first time since the planning had started, they seemed to get close, and Harley finally saw something that Peter had had been talking about- slight hope. 

Since it was the first Sunday of the month it was the obligatory family team meeting, every other Sunday it was just the usual people being those who lived in the tower, may and happy, Bruce, Brunhilde and her queen Carol if she wasn’t off planet. That is not to say that many people did not join them on the other Sundays as well, because it was nice to have the company.  
Often the conversations weren’t the most jokey or happy or whatever because they always payed tribute to those who were lost, discussed what they had been doing. But it was always an event everyone both needed and enjoyed, it was something that not only brought them together as a team and big ass superhero family, but it also helped them heal.  
The first dinner had been uncomfortable for Harley, Peter refused to speak as tears dripped onto his barely filled plate, there had been yelling, and crying, shouting and minor explosions. It was a mess but it had become a tradition, the battle laid in the past almost six months. And it was getting better, everyone was getting better. Of course there were long term effects, mostly evident in PTSD and nightmares, but they were in therapy, they supported each other to be the best they could be.

Both Harley and Peter were jittery with excitement about their progress as Harley had already begun working on the regulator and Shuri was about as excited to sneak away a ship behind her brothers back as they come.  
Harley was wearing a science pun shirt with the print ‘screw your “lab safety” I want superpowers’ which was one Peter loved and always smiled at when Harley wore it, when Bruce had first seen it, he had snorted sarcastically but hadn’t commented further. The black shirt was paired with black skinny jeans which peter very much appreciated – though he would of course never admit that. Peter himself was wearing one of Harleys shirts which reached his mid thigh due to his slim frame. Of course Harley was by no means bulky or particularly buff but he made up for it in height which Peter most certainly did not have. The shirt too had a science pun on it, it was Peters favourite so he just sort of claimed it for himself, it read ‘Chemistry is like cooking, just don’t lick the spoon’ 

They exited the elevator laughing about old vines when they were stopped by Steve, Loki, Bucky, Clint and Sam.  
“hello Boys” Loki said  
“We should talk” Steve added

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed, Kudos, comments, critique and suggestions are always much appreciated.  
> Thanks, Parker x


	13. liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeet  
> So I finished the story, the last two chapters will come in the next few days because for once I actually have some time on my hand in order to write and edit so yay  
> I hope you all are doing great and feeling good and just having a nice time  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter  
> love, Parker xx

“We should talk” said Steve looking at the two teens seriously and pressingly  
“Can’t this wait until after family dinner?” Harley asked in both annoyance and boredom, only Peter could tell that tall blond and handsome was internally freaking out and only keeping up his cool exterior for show.  
“I am afraid not” Clint said and gestured towards one of the rooms on the floor, neither Harley nor peter were sure which purpose it served.  
The door closed behind them and Loki started  
“Look, Peter, Harley- First off we haven’t told Pepper or May. But I care about you and all that, but this has to stop. I know all of this is not easy for you and you are coping the best way you can, but this isn’t it”  
“We have all been there” Bucky added “Acting before thinking and all that but you have to be careful- I couldn’t handle seeing you two get hurt, I feel responsible for the both of you”  
“So, do I, I know that none of us are Tony and we get it. Honestly, we do, but what you are doing is risky as fuck and you really should talk to us” Steve commenced  
“Listen kiddos, I am a dad and all and I don’t want to be that person but just be careful with what you do”  
“What these awkward and sappy dads are trying to say we figured out that you are dating or rather Scott did and told us, and we know that you are working on new suits. On the dating, just make sure that this is real and not holding on to the next best thing- sorry if this sounds harsh but I know how quickly a relationship can become harmful. And about the suits - Be careful, train before you go on patrol especially you Harley. We get that you want to avenge Tony and want to live up to him and all but don’t put yourself in danger. The fact that Peter goes out patrolling is bad enough and none of us really approve of it. Don’t do it if you only do it to live up to him, it will get you hurt. Talk to us before even thinking about doing stupid shit like fight proper evil.”  
The tension which had built up fell off Harley as soon as he realised that they were concerned with him potentially starting to go on patrol with peter without proper training with the two of them dating.  
Which they weren’t- were they?  
“Listen, Steve, Bucky, Loki, Clint, Sam- we appreciate this. Honestly, but firstly, Harley and I- we aren’t an item. We are not dating. And we are building new suits but only so we can train together and so I can practice, and so he can learn emergency basics, and because it helps, building and designing tech- it- it’s helping me- us cope.”  
Harley nodded  
“We really appreciate you stepping up, we know we can trust you- you guys are family. But you have nothing to worry about, we are busy enough trying to get our lives back to normal whatever that even is anymore, we genuinely don’t have time to do stupid shit and if Harley really wanted to train then well, we’d obviously involve you”  
Whilst Clint and Sam seemed relieved Bucky seemed confused and Steve and Loki cocked their eyebrows.  
“Ok you two, I am glad you are doing alright. Please just remember that you can talk to us alright?”  
They nodded and glanced at each other, neither seemed happy about the lies. 

“Look kiddos, just be careful, with whatever you do”  
Harley and Peter nodded appreciatively at Clint and the rest as they turned and left the room.  
Only when they knew they were out of earshot they let out a heavy breath, and stared at each other “That was fucking close” Peter murmured  
“And you ain’t a good liar, sure darling”  
Peter blushed and shrugged “I had to think quickly”

Family dinner started five minutes later, and Peter realized only 10 minutes after the incident that Loki as well as Steve knew they were lying. He thought that, if they had any idea in regards to what they had planned, the chat had gone a whole lot different, but they definitely were aware that something was wrong about their ‘explanation’.  
He carefully nudged Harley who sat right by his side and said with a low voice only Harley could hear and without taking his eyes off the plate “Steve and Loki know we were lying for some fucking reason”  
Harley cut one of the potatoes and dipped it into some of the gravy on his still filled plate  
“We have to get to our lab asap, we didn’t close the files”  
He shoved the fork in his mouth, chewing on the deliciously seasoned, cooked potato whilst thinking feverishly what they could do.  
“What did you tell Scott anyway?” Peter asked quietly  
“that I wanted to surprise my boyfriend with a real life sized LEGO castle”  
Peter snorted  
“I mean that is actually brilliant”

As soon as they had helped clean off the table, they virtually ran to their lab frantically clearing It of any evidence that could possibly point towards what they were up to, and they were almost done when Peter heard steps rushing towards their lab,  
A panicked look crossed his face as he stared at Harley  
“They’re on their way here” he whisper- yelled  
“What do we do??” Harley asked back, equally panicked  
“I – I-“ Peter stopped mid stutter  
“Kiss me” he whispered pressingly and elaborated quickly  
“if they think that is what we lied about we should be able to get out of this with no harm done, don’t you think?”  
“You sure”  
“Yes” Peter almost snapped “They’re close, put your big boy pants on Tennessee its just a kiss”  
Harley reluctantly put is lips on Peter, they were warm, soft and tasted like peach iced tea. But how believable would this be. He easily lifted the smaller boy but and pressed him against the next best wall as Peter crossed his legs behind Harleys back.  
The kiss was a lot, desperate, scared, deprived, angry and much more. This wasn’t about feelings or whatnot, this was about getting away with their masterplan, they were willing to do a lot to actually get it done at this point. And whilst Peters hands were comfortably resting in Harleys hair, whilst his left hand was supporting them against the wall and his right hand was resting on Peters waist.  
They were both uncomfortably aware of the presence in the room but pretended to not know

Thankfully Loki cleared his throat and Harley pretending to be surprised and flustered dropped Peter who just about caught himself. Due to the pure embarrassment of the situation all their faces were appropriately red.  
“You didn’t need to do that.”  
Loki stated straight forward as Steve cleared his throat, both men were holding a silver suitcase and looked equally serious  
“We were well aware that it wasn’t the relationship you were lying about, but kudos for trying to get us off your back”  
Loki sounded a lot more serious than he usually did and all his usual humour had left his voice.  
As Steve and Loki strolled into their lab without another question Peter and Harley exchanged a panicked gaze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, any critique, kudos and comments are appreciated  
> Thanks so much for reading  
> Parker xx


	14. Tony believed in you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey darlings, hope you are doing great  
> two chapters in two days, shocking I know  
> Hope you like this chapter,  
> love, Parker xx

Captain fucking America placed both suitcases on one of the lab tables as he shot Loki a look of question  
“Do it pretty boy, we don’t have all night” Loki pressed  
Steve turned the first suitcase towards Peter and Harley and opened it 

The dark blue and red fabric stood out against the pure white of the suits, laying next to each other, neatly folded.  
Everything fell out of Peter and Harleys face as they stared at the quantum realm suits presented in front of them.  
“T’challa figured out what Shuri was up to, connected the dots to some extend, meaning he knew you were up to something, we figured out the rest. We had her look at the regulator, the suit can retract into it so you can wear it on your normal suits.” His tone was all business leaving no room for questioning how they figured it out, how long they had known for or whether shuri even knew she had been found out before being approached by the two.  
Loki stepped behind the other suitcase and opened it with great care revealing  
“holy shit” Harley whispered  
“The infinity stones, we presume that you know where each of them belongs” Steve stated just as matter of fact-ly, as if they hadn’t revealed the infinity stones but merely the weather forecast.  
It was in this moment where Steve the leader and military “captain” shone through, there was no room for bitching around, if you had to say something- say it. But the choices you make are on you and only you. He was a leader, someone they kinda needed  
“yes, we are aware”  
“tony believed in both of you and both of you are far stronger than you realise” Loki stated  
“Tony saw something in you and so do we. Whatever you must do, do it.”  
He took something out of his pocket and handed it to Peter, whilst Loki mirrored his motion and handed a small toy to Harley.  
“Give this to Tony if you see him, its from Pepper, and a few others” Steve stepped back as if he had done his part  
“A fully functioning ship. Easy to fly, all you need is a destination. I hope you know to navigate your suits well boys. Doing this won’t be a trainings mission.”  
Peter and Harley nodded whilst exchanging a look of determination  
“One more thing, Harley Keener, you are very powerful. So are you Peter, very few humans are able to wield infinity stones, Stephen is one of them for example. Harley, take the mind stone, it will come in handy after the final battle, you might want to help the PTSD, Peter, the soul stone- you will know what to do when you get there.”  
With those words Loki pulled out two rings, empty where you would expect a stone to sit. The realisation what that meant came crashing in to Peter and Harley within seconds, each taking one of the rings and sliding them onto their fingers. The metal was against the expectation at a comfortable room temperature rather than cold as the icy back colour would lead you to believe.  
“Only put the stones in once you are in the past, leave the mind stone and the soul stone to be placed back until after the battle, do the mind stone last and then come back. Now suit up boys. We don’t have much time”  
"Tony believed in you, so do we. Now get going" 

Peter and Harley neither had time not the nerve to question what was going on and didn’t need words to communicate in this situation. Both Peter and Harley rushed towards the work bench where their necklaces were resting, they did not call much attention, were neither flashy not big, they just looked like appreciative jewellery towards IronMan and SpiderMan, as Harleys necklace was a small arc reactor like symbol, whilst Peters was a small silver spider. The pendants were about as big as the tip of their index finger- tip as the suits were fingerprint activated. Harley shoved the small spaceship into his jeans pocket and quickly grabbed the discs he had gotten off of Scott and they joined the ship.  
In perfect sync they allowed their suits to snap out of the necklace as they started to cover their respective body, their heads were not covered by the masks yet as they looked at each other.  
“Suit check” peter said neutrally  
Harleys suit was motion controlled so he moved his wrists into a 90 degree angle, leaving his palms parallel to the ground and he started hovering, he moved his head forward a slight bit and the mask unfolded covering his face and allowing communication with Karen  
“good evening Harley”  
“Hi Karen, give me a suit check please”  
“Everything is 100% functional, no system errors found”  
With another small nod the mask disappeared again  
“all working, you?” Peter nodded but seemed slightly tensed  
He seemed to consider what to say next, what to do next if anything. Harley could pinpoint Peter composed himself and said  
“Ok then, Lets get the other suits on. Tony believed in us. This is what we worked towards, this is our one chance, we can't fuck this up- we can do this"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for reading,  
> any sort of critique comments and kudos are much appreciated  
> love, parker x


	15. whatever it takes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guyyyyys,  
> I got back from hospital, so here is the final chapter, the first chapter of the second part is already done and so is the second, so there is that, if youre interested that will be up soon.  
> Anyway thank you so much for sticking around through the story, i really hope you enjoyed it 
> 
> Lots of love  
> parker xx

Peter looked almost unfamiliar, a stern expression freezing his face, eyes straight forward, a mixture of determination and fear washing through them. The white suit was a big contrast to his usual primary black with red and gold.  
This wasn’t the Peter Parker he knew; this wasn’t a traumatised and scared kid from Brooklyn. This was Peter parker who had thought Thanos and his army twice and was ready to do it a third time. This was Peter Parker the avenger and the leader, who needed to hear someone tell him that he was exactly that. It was the hero Tony had put his faith in.  
He grabbed the silver suitcase from the table containing the infinity stones.  
“You good Harley?” the blond nodded  
“Are you Peter?” the boy with the bambi eyes nodded  
Together they hushed through the building to the quantum tunnel where Loki, Steve and much to their surprise Scott were awaiting them.  
“You sure you want to do this?” Steve asked warmly now, with an expression of both appreciation and worry, a father- not a soldier, nor a leader. A parent who felt responsible.  
They nodded, too tensed and in their own heads to actually answer 

They activated their helmets and looked at each other through the window as they stepped onto the platform  
“Whatever it takes”  
“Whatever it takes” 

Peter Parker and Harley Keener met at Tony’s funeral.  
Harley Keener was finally able to do something to help, and he had finally me the kid he heard about

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said I hope you enjoyed this fic and thanks so much for sticking around. As always, comments, kudos and critique are appreciated.  
> thank you all so much, lots of love  
> Parker xx


	16. Yeet a PSA

Hello dears,  
Just a quick update on what is happening for whomever it may concern  
I will edit this from time to time and the final version will stand once the lets not call it destiny series is officially completed. So there will be minor changes here and there until the entire series stands and is done from that point onward I shall not edit this.  
That is all I really wanted to say and that I now added myself (as in my own profile?) as a co creator because I finally made one??? Can't actually tell you what took me so long, probably just didn't want to annoy Jace (Jason) all the time by using his account so that is that. (He will probably remove himself as a creator because he has his own works and notifications and stuff so that might happen at some point I am not sure) 

Apologies if anything caused any confusion, please do still feel free to leave comments critique etc you know the drill  
I also wanted to thank you for so much support  
I will yeet myself out now  
Love  
(WitchyBitch)Parker xx


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